Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

March 7, 2018

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2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CANADIAN HR REPORTER WEEKLY e Canadian federal government said it took an "historic and meaningful step" towards gender equality last week, in announcing proactive pay equity legislation for the feder- ally regulated sector. "We know that we can't make this necessary change happen for all Canadian women overnight," said Finance Minister Bill Morneau in presenting the $337.5-billion budget. "What we can do is lead by example. And it is our hope that in doing so, all employers will reflect on the way in which work done by women has been too often undervalued — and move to take action of their own to help close the gender wage gap." Alongside the gender equality measures were announcements of a new "use-it-or-lose-it" leave for new parents, changes to tax benefits for low-income workers, and the formation of an advisory council to study the feasibility of a national pharmacare program. Gender equality e government's attempt to increase female participation in the workforce and society included applying a gender- based analysis to each individual budget decision. e budget also included measures to support greater numbers of women in management and leadership positions, including a push to aid female entrepreneurs. "For the first time in our history, there are now more Canadians aged 65 and older than there are people under the age of 15," said Morneau. "at presents a real challenge. Who will step in to fill the gap left as more and more seniors leave the workforce?" Looking to boost the participation of women in the workforce, including jobs traditionally dominated by men, the Liberal government is allocating $19.9 million over five years for a pilot apprenticeship incentive grant to give women up to $6,000 for training in skilled trades. e government is also putting in place measures to address the gender wage gap by "shining a light on pay practices in the federally regulated sector" and moving forward with a proactive pay equity regime that will be tabled later this fall. Gender equality and pay equity is a valid and important goal for the government, said Patrick Snider, skills and immigration policy director at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Ottawa. "Inclusion of women in the workforce is something that we are absolutely supportive of, and we want to make sure that the labour force and management has as many of Canada's best and brightest, and is as productive as possible." However, it's important to address these issues in the most effective, productive way, he said. "A lot of this is a question of how this gets implemented in the weeks and months to come." e government's commitment to pay equity "definitely represents a big shift" in the national mentality, said Chandra Pasma, policy analyst at the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ottawa. "We're really happy to see the commitment to pay equity," she said. "We've certainly been waiting a very, very long time to see a commitment — but we still have to wait for the legislation now to see the details." Second parent leave Another significant announcement for employers to digest was the unveiling of the Employment Insurance Parental Sharing Benefit, through which a new father or second caregiver would be able to take five weeks off from work to share in the responsibilities of raising a baby. Beginning in June 2019, the benefit will be available to parents who agree to share parental leave, and is intended to allow new mothers to re-enter the workforce more easily, said Morneau. e move comes on the heels of a major paternity and maternity leave overhaul in last year's budget, which extended parental leave from 12 to 18 months, with 12 months of payments spread over that time period. "e principle behind making sure that both parents have equal opportunity to raise their children is one that's noble," said Ashley Ziai, senior policy analyst at the e gender budget Focus on equality, pay equity along with new parent leave and possible pharmacare program among changes announced Credit: Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock BY MARCEL VANDER WIER

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